Additional news stories appeared reviewing results of clinical trials for the Merck add-on Hepatitis C treatment. Placements included stories in The Los Angeles Times (8/9, Maugh) "Booster Shots" blog, HealthDay (8/9, Mozes), and MedPage Today (8/9, Smith). The "75% response rate occurred in the patients who got standard care for four weeks, followed by peginterferon alfa-2b, ribavirin, and boceprevir for 44 weeks." According to the paper in The Lancet, the "next best was a 67% response rate seen in patients who got all three drugs for 48 weeks." Both boceprevir and telaprevir another Hepatitis C drug in development add to the side effect burden. To date, no comparisons have been offered with metformin.
